October 2013 Communicator

The Future Paths of Young Professionals

By Michael Huggins

Future Paths of Young Professionals highlights a young member of
the Institute participating in an internship, research or co-op. If you
have an intern, undergraduate, or graduate research assistant that you
wish to be featured here, please contact
me.

John
Stooksbury, a senior in the Department of Nuclear Engineering at the
University of Tennessee Knoxville (UTK). John was recently elected
president of the University of Tennessee’s INMM Student Chapter.
He currently is interning at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with
the Safeguards and Security Technology Group.

How does the mission of the Institute fit with your career
goals?

I have been exposed to NDA through my internship at ORNL. The design
and application of detectors have always interested me, and these fields
are obviously a huge part of the work presented at INMM conferences. The
professionals involved in INMM provide great opportunities to network
and find work for students like me. The Institute is a venue for me to
be exposed to new technologies and to meet others who are already have
careers in the field I want to work in.

Why did you choose your educational path?

I like physics, but I don’t like overly abstract work. I
figured that engineering would be the best way to learn about physics
but to also do work that produces actual devices and techniques for
real-world problems. Nuclear engineering focuses on the areas of physics
that I most enjoy, so it was an easy choice.

What did you learn in the first few weeks about your new INMM
position?

In a small chapter especially, if the president is inactive, the
entire chapter stagnates.

How do you see your current position helping you achieve your
career goals?

Previously as a chapter member with no officer role, I received some
opportunities just by attending talks given at our chapter meetings. As
the head of the chapter, I see even more networking opportunities
becoming available as I seek out interesting and relevant speakers. I
see the experiences from organizing meetings, delegating work to peers,
and working with other student organizations as valuable in building
attributes that are not necessarily learned or heavily emphasized in
traditional engineering and science classes.

What role do you see yourself in five years from now? Ten
years?

Ideally in five years, I will be a year or two out from finishing a
doctorate in nuclear engineering. In ten years, I want to be in a
full-time R&D position at a national lab or private company.
Regardless of where I end up, I hope to be doing work related to nuclear
material management and to remain active at the Institute.

What is your opinion on the current
state of the nuclear science field?

I am very new to the nuclear science field. From my limited
perspective, I tend to be pessimistic about the reactor industry. In the
United States, whether it’s the politics, the economics, or the
public’s opinion, the future of the nuclear energy industry seems
uncertain to me. There are exciting and daunting challenges in the
field, and I strongly feel that it is a field I can positively
contribute to.

What was your favorite presentation at the 2013 INMM Annual
Meeting and what was the most intriguing presentation?

My favorite presentation was “Remote Imaging of Critical
Facilities with Cosmic Rays.” I believe it was presented by
Jonkmans, as he is the first author on the paper, but it might have been
another author. The research conducted was relevant to my current
studies, and it was presented in an easily graspable manner. Since the
motivations and implications of the research were clearly stated, I felt
that most of the information stuck with me.

The most intriguing presentation was Stephen Croft’s talk on
effective communication between those with policy backgrounds and those
with engineering or scientific backgrounds. The main takeaway from this
talk was a proposal to invent an index of sorts that relates attributes
of states that are relevant to safeguards and nonproliferation in a
quantitative manner.

Based on the conferences you have been at, what else can the
INMM do to have a focus on early career development?

The environment at these conferences is excellent for meeting
professionals in a relatively casual setting. It is easy to meet people
from domestic and foreign labs and companies. The exhibits let us see
the types of work that companies in the field are currently doing, and
we meet representatives from those companies. Coming home with 20
business cards isn’t uncommon for students. However, though the
companies that showcase themselves are always topnotch with much
success, barren is the list of companies that attend the conferences and
actually have any openings for those of us attempting to enter the
field. The Institute should focus on finding and reaching out to
companies that are hiring. I know that the search for companies that are
hiring might be unfruitful despite much effort, but if I had one wish
for the conference, it would be for companies like that to attend.